Butte, MT (pre-Yellowstone)

Ok, so technically there is no Yellowstone National Park (YNP) involvement for a few days because this is a working trip also for JD but we have been referring to it as our Yellowstone trip so I will continue to do so. The first day we flew in to Salt Lake City, UT, whose airport gives a pretty amazing view of the Great Salt Lake. I think, anyway - I haven't exactly confirmed that fact with a map - but it looked great and salty even from the plane.

SLC's airport view

From there, we took a commuter plane to Idaho Falls, ID. This was the smallest plane I'd ever been on. Seriously, we walked directly out on the runway area and climbed a ramp into the plane. And when we landed, the baggage claim, car rental, and exit were all in one big room together. Finally, an airport I can navigate!

Next we drove for 3 hours to our destination of Butte, MT. The drive was straight, flat, and lonely. But, with views like this, it was worth it.

Butte is a cute little western town that once was bustling from all the copper mining. There is still mining in the area, but the downtown stores are mostly deserted and starting to fall apart. There are still plenty of four-wheelers (saw one in every yard), bars, liquor stores, and casinos (saw one of these on every corner).

Butte overlook

We ate dinner at the Montana Club (kinda like an upscale Denny's with a little of everything), which also had a casino, as pretty much every restaurant here claims to have.

After dinner, we drove around exploring the town and saw the most intense and beautiful double rainbow I have ever seen. We did have some pretty heavy rain on the drive up and after dinner, the sun came out which must have been the perfect rainbow combo. I took way too many photos because I couldn't get the pictures to do it justice. It was just so bright and the full arch shown - I was mesmerized!

Day 2
Jimmy had to go to work, so I set off exploring wherever I could without a car. Luckily, there were some shopping centers within walking distance that had a Goodwill and consignment shops. (So pay no attention when you're souvenir t-shirt says Butte '84!) I also had just began to read Gone With The Wind, which as a proud southerner I am ashamed I have never seen :(. But, all 1024 pages gave me plenty to do in my downtime.

Found our YNP guide here for $1 that made our trip (and yes, there was a casino next door)

For dinner, we tried Fred's Mesquite Grill which I highly would recommend. My steak and veggie kabobs were delicious as were JD's ribs and porkchop. I normally eat about half of my meals and take the rest to-go but JD and I were both members of the clean plate club here.

The view from the restaurant was great, also, and "Our Lady of the Rockies" could be seen in the distance. "Our Lady" is a statue of the Virgin Mary built in 1985. It sits atop the continental divide and is an honor to mothers everywhere. It takes a 2 hour bus ride to get to the statue so I settled for the zoom on my camera. We'll have to come back when the 5 minute tram ride that is being built is up and running.

CSB - Part 2

In order to dine out, we had to leave the Cape so we drove to Appalachicola.This is apparently where the ice machine and air conditioning were invented, for medical treatment none the less. All southerners thank you, Dr. Gorrie from Appalachicola!

Upon the recommendation of our beach and balcony neighbor, we ate at The Grill, The Seafood Grill, The Cafe - who really knows but some words did mention seafood and grill on the outside of the building.  It was small and casual but served great food. The boys loved it because they were able to go the cooler and pick out their own beers.

Game nights are always on our list of things we like to do together. Yahtzee, Taboo, and Catch Phrase are crowd favorites but we added a newbie to our rotation.  Here is Mom Duncan while playing our cousin Kevin's new board game "Whirled Peas". Great fun but be forewarned, we had lots of college degrees in that room and we still had to do alot of passes. Maybe we'll try the junior edition?

Naturally, a visit to the lighthouse was in order. The original Cape San Blas lighthouse was destroyed many a moon ago, hurricane probably?, and this light tower now stands a little more inland.

Christen and I decided to wait outside of the keeper's house during the visit because apparently someone had tinkled in her morning cornflakes. The heat and humidity were much more pleasant.

This pretty guy was waiting outside with us.



One day, we carried all of our beach gear to the national park in Saint Joseph's Peninsula. So worth it!! The sand was pristine white while the waters were crystal clear. Even Christen got in the ocean over her head and she is usually just a tip-toer in the waves.

Syd did some boarding! (And seaweed scooping, fishing, and shrimping!)

The water was so clear and gorgeous snorkeling was a must! The fish thought my lily-white legs were a little treat and would just crown around offering quite an underwater display.

We found a plethora of shells, large and small, back on the beach at our place. Here is just a small sample of our collections.

And, one can not have a complete beach vacation without the infamous jump shots. Why is jumping while someone takes your photo so much fun??


On 3, you guys!

I, apparently, am uncapable of bending at the elbow.

Even the Moms got in on the action.

This guy thought we were crazy and were scaring away his snacks.

Finally, our sunset signaled it was time to head back home :( Georgia, get ready!

Just a side note - I am posting this from our hotel room in Idaho during our Yellowstone trip while Jimmy is at work! :) More travel pics up and coming!!!

CSB, FL - Part 1

Cape San Blas, located on a peninsula near Port St. Joe in the Gulf of Mexico, is beautiful and laid back - just what any RN would order! In July, we stayed (all together!) at The Club at Cape San Blas. Very clean, modern, and spacious - the only negative were the ferocious mosquitoes that made us run for our skin's lives!

There are no high rises, hotels, or much of anything except the beach at the Cape. We had a great view from our balcony that you could enjoy as long as you could take the heat!

The hotties came also (except Aaron had to leave us on Wednesday - booo!).

As soon as we arrived, the fun began.


Syd finally supported the right team.

JD helped me scout out a location for our family portrait.

The zoom on my new picture taker is fab so I could catch the 'rents.

We tried out the new gorillapod for self-portraits. If you are a self-portrait taker, this thing rocks and will attach to everything. This is the second try because on the first, JD couldn't bear the weight of me jumping on his back and was pushed out of view -  weakling :)

In a rare moment, I caught the Duncan's mid dance. And, Chuck with the favorite of his 3 food groups that include vitamin C, grenadine, and moon pies! Do I hear some Bob Marley in the background?

We were able to enjoy dinner together as a family (and sit at the table with a snapping turtle - j/k!)

Lots of beach time was also involved.

Our set up provided plenty of escape from the sun for even the fairest of maidens.  Unfortunately, an afternoon storm took out our canopy. Luckily it wasn't until thursday so our skin was still able to be spared from baking. (I think mom is wondering here if we are on the Atlantic or Pacific, no?)

Sydney makes a fierce sand turtle - and loves all things animal, by the way.

The group family photo courtesy, again, of the gorillapod.

Re-engagement shot? Couldn't resist!

This girl makes everyone want to have lots of little girls (or boys for that matter because she has quite the tomboy side)!

One last beach photo!

Stay tuned for part 2!

The Cape or Bust

We are headed down to Cape San Blas, FL for our first family vacation that includes the !entire! family with both sets of in-laws. This is also referred to as Vacation Impossible 2011 since coordinating everyone's schedules has taken (just!) a couple of years now.

Cape San Blas is in the panhandle between PCB and Appalachicola and is home to St. Joe's State Park. Dr. Beach voted it one of America's top beaches! There are no hi-rises or amusement parks - it's just a beach to get away from it all.

Don't worry, I'm packin - lots of spf and beach shelter, that is!

Be back soon!

Lordy, Lordy Look Who's........95!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRANDMA!!

For Grandma's birthday, we went to the Marietta Diner which has been featured on many a food network program. They are famous for their cakes - which are ginormous and sit in a display case at the entrance just tempting you.

They also have an extensive menu so you can order something different every time you go, although I highly recommend the gyro (real lamb of course). They serve a delicous spanokapita for their appetizer - yum!

We are so blessed to have Grandma be able to celebrate 95 wonderful years!!! Love you Grandma!!